Lawrie, who had never hit higher than fifth during his brief Major League career, was the biggest beneficiary of the club deciding to stack some righties high in the order.

"It was a lineup considered the last time we faced Matusz back in Toronto and even against [Danny] Duffy over in Kansas City," Farrell said. "But we feel like we can get one of our more consistent hitters in the two hole and hopefully another at-bat or two throughout the course of the game."

Outfielder Eric Thames was the only left-handed regular who found himself in the lineup. Thames entered the game having gone 4-for-8 in his past two games and recorded hits in five of his past six contests, but Farrell said he wasn't necessarily riding the hot hand.

With the Blue Jays in the middle of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, Farrell has been rotating players in and out to ensure everyone received proper rest.

"What we've done when we've gone to this lineup, Colby has been the guy that has remained in center field and this is a chance to give him a day off," Farrell said. "We're not going to get our next day off for another 10 days, so just trying to rotate guys through and keep everyone involved."